The Highest-Paid Female Athletes

Maria Sharapova struggled in recent years with injuries and inconsistent play on the tennis court. Her worldwide ranking plummeted to a low of No. 126 in 2009 and she was rarely a factor in Grand Slam events. But this year Sharapova has rebounded and won 80% of her matches. She is now ranked No. 5 in the world and reached the Wimbledon finals in July; her first Grand Slam final in more than three years.

While Sharapova has bounced back on the court, off the court she never left. Sharapova is the world's highest-paid female athlete for the seventh straight year and this year it is not even close. Sharapova earned $25 million over the last 12-months, double the amount of any other female athlete in the world.

Sharapova maintains an impressive endorsement portfolio that includes Nike, Head, Evian, Clear Shampoo, SonyEricsson, Tiffany and Tag Heuer. Sharapova has 5.2 million Facebook fans and her partners are constantly doing things on her Facebook page to reach them. Cole-Haan (a Nike subsidiary) ran a promotion for her 24th birthday where her fans got 24% off that day.

Sharapova extended her Nike agreement in 2010 for eight years that could net her as much as $70 million. Sales of her Nike line of tennis apparel were up 26% in 2010 and she now has five other Tour pros wearing the collection. Her ballet flat was the top selling shoe in 2010 at Cole Haan. She receives royalties on both her Nike and Cole Haan lines.

Our earnings estimates are for the 12-months ending July 1, 2011. We factor in prize money, salaries, appearance fees, licensing income and endorsements in our totals. Tennis players dominate the list with seven of the ten spots. The ten highest paid women made $113 million over the past 12-months, up 1% from last year. By comparison the 10 highest-paid men earned a collective $449 million.

The second highest-paid female athlete over the past year is the world's No. 1 ranked tennis player, Caroline Wozniacki at $12.5 million. She banked $6 million in prize money and another $6.5 million from sponsors and appearances. Companies are lining up behind the 21-year old Dane hoping to catch tennis' next big star. She added deals this year with Yonex, Compeed and Oriflame, but her biggest partner is Adidas which paid out lucrative bonuses in 2010 thanks to her No. 1 year-end ranking.